Neighbors from hell!!!

daisy_beeOctober 19, 2012

I am living above the neighbors from hell. The stomping, running, banging, and slamming is relentless. I've tried to ignore it but it's impossible to ignore anymore. To make matters worse, the noise is CONSTANT. From sun up to sun down, banging, stomping, running, thumping, you name it. Even though they live below me, I can still hear and feel vibrations from all of the pounding. If I come home from work early, there's pounding, stomping, running, and slamming. If I have a day off work, there's pounding, stomping, running, and slamming. It goes on 7 days a week and practically 24 hours a day. I just don't understand. I've never heard anything so irritating in all my life, and I'm a pretty calm person normally. I've lived in several apartments before moving here but these neighbors take the cake. Perhaps if it wasn't constant it would be easier to deal with but it seems like they are doing heavy construction to the floors and walls every day from dawn 'til dusk.

At times I turn my tv up or wear headphones to block out the noise but to my dismay, I can STILL hear them! Not only can I hear them, I can feel the floor vibrating from all the pounding and banging. No room is safe. I can't even escape the noise in the the shower. When I'm in there, I can hear them presumably in their bathroom tearing up the place. They start slamming every drawer so hard it can be felt though the bathroom floor. When I say slam I mean practically knocking the cabinets off the walls with the force. When they slam anything, it's not just once but several times. Like "Oh, I better slam it again to make sure it's closed. Oh, and one more time for good measure. Oh OK, one more time because third time is the charm. But wait! That last slam didn't close it enough so one more time for the road." In the bedroom, I can hear and feel them stomping around and more slamming of drawers and doors. They literally slam 6 or 7 times before they stop. Maybe it's OCD or maybe they're just mentally disturbed. Maybe they have some sort of insect problem and they are trying to squash bugs as they close draws and doors. Even in the kitchen, the same stomping and banging around and then the sound of them opening and slamming their sliding door 6 or 7 times repeatedly. Sounds like they have real issues. I think I would be able to live with the nuisance of hearing occasional slamming or banging but when someone does it back to back repeatedly, you have to wonder what the hell is going on. The noise continues after contacting them directly and writing to the rental agency several times.

As a second-floor apartment dweller, I can attest that you CAN learn to walk lightly and not slam everything because it can sound like a ton of falling bricks to neighbors. I've developed a nice, light walk and I don't run in my apartment (not that I'd need to - nothing's far to get to). To date, I've never once had a noise complaint against me. I know they can control their movements, but they refuse to even after receiving several warnings. Shockingly, the noise has gotten worse. At this point, we think it must be deliberate because why else would someone get noisier after receiving complaints and warnings? They are clearly in breach of the rental agreement and my right to peaceful enjoyment of my apartment.

I have no problem with hearing people's tv's, their conversations, shower's running, dishwashers, or air conditioners. I just cannot bear this incessant sound of banging, slamming, pounding, stomping, and running so loudly it makes whatever room I'm standing in shake. As soon as I get home from work, I know what I'm in for.

I just don't understand why people are so inconsiderate. It's common sense that you should try to keep noise to a minimum when you have to share walls and floors with other tenants. Common noises are understandable but carrying on as if they are in a gymnasium, playground, or park is ridiculous. I hope this issue gets resolved as soon as possible because I'm at my wits end with these neighbors from hell.

Well I hope it makes you feel better to know that you are not alone. Reading the posts on here are like therapy for me.

What you are describing is virtually the same exact situation I've been dealing with for the last 2 years. A downstairs divorced dad of 2 boys (around 7 and 10 yrs old). Allows them to run around, scream, bang, smash, thump and blast video games as much as they wish. And it goes on from the moment they wake up until they go to bed. It's really remarkable that the dad thinks this is an acceptable amount of noise to make when someone else is sharing a house with them.

We've talked to him but he basically just tells us we have to just deal with it. "Hey, I've got 2 boys". Well how about them running around in the YARD as opposed to the house. They are here on Wednesdays and every other weekend so it's not as bad as your situation. They are actually here much more than that though. It's so bad that my wife and I sometimes take trips to nearby Maine when they are here and try to do things on Wednesday nights so we'll get home after they've gone to bed. Today (Sunday, I'm heading to my brother's house to watch the football game. No so much because I'm dying to see him but it's a great alternative than staying home and trying to watch the game when it feels like the Patriots are playing right downstairs from me.

I have purchased a portable television so I can watch the games on our deck if I have nowhere to go and they are here. Oh, and when the kids are not there, the peace and quiet are too much for the father and he just yells out random things throughout the day. It kind of creepy.

Hopefully one day I can thank him for accelerating our resolve to move to Maine to finally be done dealing with inconsiderate neighbors.

Daisy I feel your pain. As you said, normal everyday noises that pass through walls like running showers, bathroom fans, laundry machines, vacuum cleaners are totally expected from apartment living. But nobody wants to live next to a construction site, except that's what it sounds like for you and me. Instead of downstairs, it's next door. It sounds like a perpetual construction zone that never ends.

The people that live next door here are constantly crashing things into the wall. It makes no sense. The shared walls we have are constantly shaking multiple from things bashing into it. I cannot fathom how or why the wall keeps shaking or what is going on over there, except it never stops. It's like they have some kind of strange magnetic attraction to the wall. When they are not crashing things into the wall, then they are slamming every single cabinet as loudly as possible. Or dropping really heaving things onto the floor so our floors shake as well.

I really cannot understand what goes on inside some people's heads. It is extremely disturbing to live through violent, jarring noises and shaking walls every day. I could be eating a meal or reading a book, and BOOM! it feels like a bomb going off in a war zone. This to me is not acceptable living conditions, apartment life or not.

I resort to throwing a basketball against the wall to return the favor, only to have the ppl next door starting bashing the wall in retaliation. I cannot wait to get a detached home. No more shared walls for me ever, this one horrible experience has ruined my outlook on apartment living for good.

"The people that live next door here are constantly crashing things into the wall. When they are not crashing things into the wall, then they are slamming every single cabinet as loudly as possible. Or dropping really heaving things onto the floor so our floors shake as well.

I really cannot understand what goes on inside some people's heads."

People who were unable to get attention when they were growing up often resort to being noisy so that someone, ANYONE will finally pay attention to them. That or they were born in a barn...

May I suggest putting a Black Sabbath CD/cassette on auto reverse for an entire weekend while you go away for to enjoy visiting friends or family elsewhere?!